Feel The Silence
by Linnadhiel-x0815
Summary: When a Potion's lesson goes horribly wrong, Remus is left deaf and unable to communicate with his friends. The Marauders start to fall apart and Remus blames himself, and only Sirius can sort everything out. But how? when Remus cant hear them. SLASH SB/RL
1. Morning Star

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for clicking my fanfiction. If you read it, please review and let me know what you think. BIG thanks goes to my darling Mads for Beta-ing. This will be a Slash, meaning MalexMale pairings. If you dont like DONT READ! you have been warned. Otherwise...Enjoy!**

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The first thing that caught Remus' attention in the early hours of an extremely miserable Scottish, October Monday, was the soft tinkering of strings, filtering through the blissfully soft clouds of sleep still hanging over his mind. The sound was pleasant on his acute wolf hearing, rather unlike the howling wind mercilessly throwing ice cold rain pellets against the dormitories poor excuse for windows. Sighing inwardly, Remus forced his mind to tune out everything but the delightful flurry of notes, random in pitch, seemingly random in choice as well, Remus noted, as the pauses between each one differed. The dorm's self proclaimed Maestro experimenting with his sequencing.

A small smile flickered at the corners of Remus' mouth as he let himself sink into the soft music drifting across from the bed opposite him, his ears twitching slightly according to the changes in pitch, his blond mane subconsciously pushing further into the feather pillow behind his head. He kept his eyes shut, not daring to expose the Amber hue to the room in case the minuscule movement somehow caught the attention of the musician and brought an end to the wonderful noise.

Twisting carefully, the blond attempted to work a cramp out of his shin, the muscles protesting at being still for so long, his slight movements causing the bed sheets to shift, allowing the sub-zero temperatures to slither inside his warm cavern of linen, a harsh shiver racking his body as the air danced up his spine, regretting his actions almost instantaneously as the music came to an abrupt stop.

"Rem?" a voice croaked in a poor attempt at a whisper. "Are you awake?"

Clamping his eyes tighter, Remus held his breath, his body stiff as he forced himself to remain still, hoping his best friend would shrug his sudden movement off and return his attention to the delicate strings.

"Remus? Moony?" the voice called again, the air whooshing out of the wolf's lungs as he heard the distinct sound of wood connecting with flooring as his friend put his instrument down.

"Yeah." was all Remus managed to breathe out as he realised he couldn't pretend to be asleep any more in hopes his friend would continue playing. "Yeah I'm awake." he tried again, pulling himself slowly into something that resembled an upright position, his eyes fixing on the body in front of him, his athletic form perched on one corner of his mattress, one leg pressed against the deep mahogany flooring, whilst the other curled up underneath his frame, one hand hooked over the headboard, probably to have been used as a leverage upwards for the other male if Remus hadn't responded, the other, wrapped around the neck of a pale wood, Acoustic Guitar.

"Oh good, its just, I saw you shiver and I didn't know whether you were awake or having a nightmare or something." the musician replied lifting the instrument back up, depositing it in his lap before draping his arms across the body and turning his attentions to his best friend.

"Its very cold." Remus gave as a response, not feeling the need to elaborate any further as he saw his friends knowing nod.

"It is, I'll allow you that." his best friend smiled. His slender fingers drumming gently across the strings in front of him.

"What was you playing earlier Siri? I don't think I've heard you playing it before." Remus enquired, his head cocking to one side slightly as he gazed expectantly at his friend.

"Oh!" Sirius exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the two other inhabitants of the room. "I was just testing out some sequencing, you never know when the inspiration will hit you."

"Surely if you plan ahead its not _technically_ inspiration is it?" the blond retorted staring pointedly at the black haired male currently sat grinning at him.

"Surely you could ignore that ever-present logic of yours for once and agree with your amazingly talented friend?" Sirius shot back mimicking the werewolf's tone.

"No." Remus began. "If I did that, you would only use it against me to pressurise me into agreeing with you on other things. I'm afraid I cannot allow it." The older male didn't respond, merely sighed dramatically and resumed his disjointed rhythms across the panelling of his guitar. "So have you got anything new then Pads?"

At the new question, Sirius' eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly, rather dog like Remus mused to himself, his tongue peeking out from between his pale lips. Without giving a proper answer, the musician snatched his wand up from his bedside table and flicked it at his trunk at the foot of his bed, still open from the removal of his Guitar however many hours ago, a quickly muttered "accio"and a roughly folded parchment appeared and flew towards the slender male.

"Would you like to hear it?" Sirius questioned unfurling the creation with a flourish.

"Urrr..." Remus began casting a momentary glance towards the still snoozing forms of James and Peter. Although he could appreciate the beauty of being woken to music, he doubted the other two Marauders would share his appreciation, having both already openly spoken of their dislike of Sirius' "noise maker" when for the third night running, they had been kept awake whilst the owner spent endless hours tuning and re-tuning the instrument.

Realising what Remus was worrying about, Sirius smiled and patted towards the end of his bed, waiting patiently whilst the wolf hurried across the dorm and dropped onto the deep red quilting, complaining profusely under his breath as he left the warmth of his confinements, before performing a quick silencing charm around the area.

"There." was all Sirius said with a small nod of authority. "Wouldn't want dearest James and Peter missing out on any of their long needed beauty sleep would we?"

"No." Remus sighed with a slight chuckle. "When did you do this?" he quizzed picking up the forgotten parchment and scanning through the roughly scrawled words and notations.

"The other night whilst you were recovering in the Hospital Wing." Sirius stated flexing his fingers slightly. "I couldn't sleep, I was still wired from the night before, so I decided to use my time productively." he extended, taking the parchment back from his friend and setting it down in front of himself so he could read what he was supposed to play. "Do you want me to just play it? Or would you like to listen to my gorgeous singing voice too?"

"How do you know its gorgeous, for all I know you could be able to hold less of a tune then a banshee!" Remus replied before pausing to actually consider Sirius' question. "I think you'll have to sing again, it doesn't have the same effect when you just play the tune." he murmured.

Nodding to show his understanding, Sirius lightly ran his fingertips down the fret board, absorbing the small squeaks his skin created on the grated metal, before he began to play, his mouth dropping open as he started to sing.

"_I saw a star beneath the stairs  
Glowing through the melting walls  
Who will be the first to begin their fall?  
Or will we become one?_

_Am I the star beneath the stairs?  
Am I the ghost upon the stage?  
Am I your anything?_

_I saw a star beneath the stairs  
Glowing bright before descent  
And in the morning there is nothing left but what's inside of me._

_Am I the star beneath the stairs?  
Am I the ghost upon the stage?  
Am I your anything?  
Am I the star beneath the stairs?  
Am I the ghost upon the stage?  
Am I your anything?_

_And I don't want to die tonight, will you believe me?  
And I don't want to fall into the light  
Will you wish upon?  
Will you walk upon me?  
I don't want to die tonight_

_Will you believe in me tonight?  
Am I the star beneath the stairs?  
Am I the ghost upon the stage?  
Am I your anything?  
Am I the star beneath the stairs?  
Am I the ghost upon the stage?  
Am I your anything?"_

"Wow." Remus gasped as Sirius drew to a halt. "That's amazing, I'd say it's your best yet."

"Thanks." Sirius smiled sincerely, forgetting to slip back into his cocksure attitude, a small remote part of his brain thanking Merlin for Remus' lack of questions. He had originally worried his lyrics would of stirred a few enquiries within the blond, as in order to answer them properly, he would have had to drag up a lot of well hidden emotions. Something he wasn't really prepared to do at that moment in time.

"So, what inspired those lyrics then?" Remus asked after a few minutes contemplation on both sides. Damn it. Sirius thought, spitefully removing his thanks from Merlin for blocking his easy escape route.

"As if you've got that blasted thing out again!" A sleep filled voice flooded through the invisible barriers, successfully drawing Remus' attention away to gaze at the crumpled form of James Potter, his eyes blazing as he gazed at the instrument resting dormant in Sirius' lap, failing to note the now shattered silencing charms around them.

"Silencing charms." was all Remus chose to respond with, before drawing himself back to his feet and stretching heartily, turning to pick up his neatly folded uniform before stalking out the dorm room to commandeer the shower room before the hot water ran out, pausing only to throw the two ebony haired males a get-up-we-have-lessons-to-go-to look.

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"Potion's sucks." Sirius moaned sullenly, slumping down in his seat and resting his cheek on his hand as his elbow slammed down onto the work bench.

"So you told me throughout Charms, Care of Magical Creatures _and_ Transfiguration." Remus retorted as he passed by, merely dropping his bag onto his seat before strolling off towards the ingredients store, having already read the instructions Professor Slughorn had written on the board.

"Don't forget lunch." James sighed dropping down into his seat on the other side of the now sulking male.

"Breakfast as well." Peter joined in strolling past the pair to go join Remus, James and Sirius always refused point blank to step foot in the Ingredients Store, always deeming the job too complicated for their minds to cope with.

"Well, either way he can stop sulking and help me with the potion, I can't put all the ingredients in as well as keep an eye on the stirring." Remus stated appearing once again, his arms laden with various vials and plant roots.

"Now, Sixth Years, a word of warning." Slughorn began returning to the front of the room once everyone was prepared. "This potion you are about to create is dangerously unstable if done incorrectly. All ingredients must be placed into the potion with precision, nothing but the required ingredients must enter the potion, including, for instance, those of you with long hair, be careful, not one strand must fall in"

"If its so bloody dangerous why give us it to do?" Sirius questioned before frowning as Remus swatting him away whilst trying to pay attention to the professors instructions. "I mean, they gave us lot it, and we have Peter! Surely this is just proof they are all insane!" he tried again.

"Sirius shush! I cant hear!"

"I'm only saying!"

"This is highly important! Save it till later!"

"Once your potion is complete, immediately bottle it and bring it to me, gently I don't want it smashing all over the floor. Now, off you go. Don't make a mistake, I am rather fond of my Potion's lab being in one piece thank you." Slughorn finished strolling behind his desk and with a wave of his wand the fire's beneath the cauldron's were lit.

"Oh god, were going to die, Peter's going to blow something I can tell!"Sirius whined, his hatred for the lesson only souring his mood further.

"SIRIUS!" Remus snapped causing a few startled heads to turn as they walked past the pair towards the ingredients. "This is an important potion, it is also a dangerous potion."

"I know that's what I'm on ab-" Sirius interrupted.

"Basically! Shut! Up! Get out of that ridiculous mood and help me with this potion!"

"Don't get all snarky with me! I'm trying to lighten the god damn mood! Your the one snapping at me!"

"Well if you stopped acting like a petulant child we wouldn't have that problem!"

Jumping to his feet, Sirius glared down at his younger friend, hating the annoyance and slight disgust tainting his Amber orbs, the anger coursing through him at the werewolf's last statement.

"I've nearly finished it anyway, so you can stop looking so mutinous." Remus sighed turning back around. "I only have on-"

"Remus?" Sirius asked seeing his friend freeze in front of his Cauldron.

"So-something is in here that shouldn't be...or I've missed something off." Remus began, double checking his work area for something he could of missed.

"I don't see anything, does it matter?" Sirius questioned, immediately regretting it as the small blond swung round to glare at him.

"What!? Have you not listened to _anything_ I have said! This potion could take half the classroom out if it goes wrong! Of course it matters!"

"Look! Stop having a go at me like it's _my_ fault!"

"It _is_ your fault Sirius! You made me lose my concentration and now I need to rectify this or face blowing half my classmates up!"

"I'm sure we could throw it towards Snivellus, taking a few Slytherin's out wouldn't matter if-"

"Sirius! Stop! Your only making this worse!" Remus screamed, not caring he was now making a scene, the entire class still continuing with their work, yet all their ears perked for more information of the argument.

"How in the name of _Merlin_ am I making it worse!" Sirius exclaimed, before pausing in shock, the Cauldron behind Remus was now bubbling harshly, shaking on its foundations and turning an angry red colour instead of the turquoise it was intended to be.

"Because your doing nothing but antagonising me and preventing me fro-" Remus ranted but Sirius only caught half of it as he spotted the Cauldron emit a few sparks of green flame, the work area shaking, he knew what was going to happen before he saw it, something was reacting violently with the potion and it was going to explode, with Remus directly in the firing line.

"REMUS LOOK OUT!"

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**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Please Review, I love to know what you think. No flames though please, I dont tolerate them. The song Sirius "composed" in this part is Morningstar by AFI.**


	2. Runeswort Explosion

**A/N: AHHH! I'm SOOOOOO sorry for the sudden lack of update despite me promising it soon after the first part. I've had a bad week, snow, car crashes, The Sky man killing the internet connection, my mother being ill....About 3 millions jobs to do and I never got time to write. I'm so sorry. I hope this part makes up for the wait. A HUGE thanks to all who reviewed this and added it to the Story Alerts. It means a lot to me. xx  
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"_REMUS LOOK OUT!"_

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Seeing the sudden panic written across his best friend's face, Remus felt his rant die on his lips, the crescendo of hissing and rattling from behind him telling the young wolf everything he needed to know.

_The potion_.

Instinct kicked in and Remus span on his heel to try and diffuse the potential time bomb he had unintentionally created, but he wasn't fast enough. In the split second that had past between Sirius shouting out his warning and Remus turning away, the timer ran out. With an almighty boom of power, the Cauldron exploded, the roar of the liquid quickly being accompanied by an array of terrified screams from fellow students and the scraping of chairs and work benches as they were either knocked over for being in the way of escaping bodies, or thrown back with the force of the calamity.

Sirius watched in horror as the mass of boiling Pewter scattered across the laboratory, the majority of the explosion slamming into Remus, covering his head and upper body in hot metallic chunks and bubbling liquid, his Amber eyes widening in pain as he was thrown forward into the next work bench, his body crumpling beneath him. The power of the explosion rippled further through the air, pushing Sirius backwards, the young male trying to sustain his balance as the entire room seemed to shake with the intensity of the waves pulsing around it.

A large chunk of metal flew towards the animagus, his silver eyes widening as it collided sharply with his temple, sweeping the tall male off his feet and smacking him awkwardly against an overturned stool. Pain shot up his elbow as it absorbed the full force of the fall, before snapping under the pressure, causing a sharp cry of pain to escape his lips.

His vision blurred, everything fogged in his brain as he tried to remain conscious, somewhere in the back of his head, a voice screamed at him to forget his own agony and to find Remus, but none of his limbs would co-operate, merely twitching slightly against the dusky floor tiles.

It was all over in a few seconds, a thin layer of dust clouding the air as everything finally settled down, a few daring students peeking up over their upturned desks, or round the door frame of Slughorn's office where those out of their seats had taken refuge. Sirius remained on the floor, his eyes attempting to focus on something, anything to keep those Silver irises working.

"Sirius? Sirius mate you okay?" James' voice cut through the haze, a blurred mass of black hair, soot covered cheekbones and slanted glasses appearing overhead.

"He's got a bad cut on his head." Peter added, not noticing the well-done-Sherlock look the ebony haired male shot his way.

Sirius tried to respond, tried to communicate with his oldest friend, inform him that indeed he was okay, but he also wanted to scream and curse the two other Marauder's for bothering with him, Remus was hurt, he needed help.

"Sixth Years! Please, I want all of those who can walk to head towards the infirmary, those who are unable to walk unaided, please pair up with someone who can, you must all get checked over and treated, this room is not safe!" Professor Slughorn barked, striding towards the Gryffindor end of the room, his eyes fixed on the large crack spreading up the brickwork in the corner as he knelt down beside Remus' form and quickly cast a few charms over the blond.

"I have alerted the other teachers, some will come to help you to the Hospital Wing, others are coming to help your injured peers. Please do not try to help them yourself! It could cause them even more pain." He added before rounding on the Marauder's. "That includes you and Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter." He snapped as James bent down to try and lift Sirius to his feet. "Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin are in need of serious medical attention, the likes of which you cannot give!"

"But Professor!" James exclaimed staring at the Potions Master like he had just grown another head. "You can't expect us to leave!"

"I bloody well do Mr. Potter! Out! Both of you! This is not a debatable matter!" Slughorn hissed angrily, before stopping as the sound of hurried footsteps reached the door of the laboratory.

"We'll wait at the Hospital Wing Professor." Peter whispered grabbing the back of James' robes and beginning to pull him away, his eyes fixed on the werewolf's unconscious body. "James! Come on! We can't help them at the moment!" he continued successfully pulling the Raven haired male out into the corridor, just as the teachers piled through the doorway.

"What happened Horace?!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed as she spotted many of her house students scattered across the classroom groaning in pain.

"Mr. Lupin's Runeswort Potion backfired, he's in a serious condition Minerva, I've managed to slow the bleeding to an extent but I fear it may not be enough, we must get him to Poppy." Slughorn answered not looking up from the frail boy in front of him.

Sirius' breath rattled as the realisation hit him, Remus was in danger, the solemn tone of Slughorn's voice only adding to his fearful words, causing the wave of panic to crash that extra bit harder into the older male. Slughorn never talked in that tone, even when it concerned his precious Slytherin's.

"Of course!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed rushing forward, her motherly instincts always kicked in when it concerned Remus.

"I'll carry him." Professor Slughorn stated suddenly, gently pulling the fragile body off the floor and into his arms, before he staggered to his feet, and turned on his heel to exit the lab.

As Slughorn came into view, Sirius felt his heart sink into his stomach at the sight of the werewolf's tiny frame hanging limply over his forearms. The traditionally pale complexion, now a deathly white hue, the once sleek mass of blond locks, dirty and matted with blood. The offending red liquid still oozing down the side of his head, mixing with the black scarring from scolding heat, contrasting harshly against the white skin.

"R-Rem." Sirius managed to choke out, before his eyes locked on a pair of bright blue orbs hidden beneath a shimmering mane of white hair, hovering above his head.

"He'll be okay my dear boy." filtered into his ears as Sirius gazed up at the Headmaster. "But he needs to go to Madam Pomfrey."

Sirius tried to say that he understood, but all he could manage was a slight incline of his head, the movement resembling a twitch more then an actual nod. However, as Dumbledore wrapped his slender fingers around the animagus' upper arms in a surprisingly strong grip, and hauled him to his feet. Sirius knew he had successfully gotten his point across.

"Ugh." Was all Sirius managed to give in warning as he was placed back on his feet, the room span before his eyes, and his legs shook and crumbled beneath him, before he collapsed forward, the last thing to register in his mind, being the floor coming up towards him.

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Peeling his eyes open, Sirius found himself gazing blearily at the pearlescent architecture of the Hospital Wing ceiling, high above his head, twinkling as the starlight danced across it. With a small groan of pain, the young male stretched out along the bed he was currently tucked into, his arms reaching for the bar headboard overhead, whilst pointing his toes towards the other side of the wing.

He couldn't recall what he had done to warrant a stay in the Medical ward, no memories of cleverly thought out pranks, no recollection of a fuming Snivellus smoking at the ears as his fury built, clearly it wasn't because of James' idea of fun that he was here then.

Allowing his arms to relax, Sirius pulled them back down towards his sides, one of them pausing at his hairline to run fingers through the untidy locks, before connecting with something that definitely wasn't part of his natural style.

Using both his hands now, Sirius dragged his enquiring fingertips along the strips of gauze wrapped tightly around his head, before reaching his right temple where a miniature square of padding was pressed against his skin. Dancing his digits across the soft padding, Sirius grimaced as a slight tingling of pain sparked from his touch, before freezing, his body starting to shake as he recalled the series of events that had caused his head to need bandaging.

Remus.

Potions.

Explosion.

Pain.

Blood.

_Remus._

"REMUS!" Sirius gasped throwing himself into a sitting position, regretting it instantly as his head screamed, poking him spitefully behind the eyes. Dropping his head into his hands, Sirius tried to will the pain away, as well as the image of his friend all pale and bloody.

"Sirius?!" a voice suddenly screamed from the doorway, successfully shattering the thick silence that had filled the atmosphere. Said Animagus turned his head at the sound, his pale eyes fixing on two gaping Gryffindor's, their arms laden with goodies, which Sirius assumed were get well gifts.

"Are you okay?" Peter questioned shuffling forward slightly, almost as if he was too scared to move forward properly.

"Where's Remus?" Sirius quizzed, purposefully ignoring his friend's question as his eyes darted over the deserted wing.

Without bothering to respond, James marched forward and hastily deposited his collection of sweets and joke products onto the end of Padfoot's quilt, before calming raising his right arm and pointing towards the isolation room.

"He's in there," James began as Peter joined him and mirrored his actions and dropped all his gifts next to the taller male's. "He was taken straight in there, no matter how many times we ask Madam Pomfrey wont tell us anything, we've been threatened with removal, Merlin knows how many times."

"The isolation room?" Sirius echoed, turning to gaze at the thick mahogany doorway which lead to the room Remus normally found refuge in after his transformation. "Is it serious do you think?"

"And I think Dumbled-" James continued, until Sirius' second question cut him off mid-rant. "I...I don't know, I suppose if it was _really_ serious they would of told us by now, even _they_ aren't that cruel."

"I guess." Sirius breathed, his eyes once again locking on the old wooden panelling, blocking everything out as he tried to imagine what was happening in that other room. His head was swimming with the image of Remus' wide Amber eyes filling with pain as the cauldron exploded, each recollection of those few moments only added to the lead guilt corrupting his insides. He felt physically sick, he knew that all this had happened because of his foul mood, and he hated himself for it.

Lost in his thoughts, Sirius failed to notice the doorway to the extra room creak open, in fact it wasn't until Peter gasped that he broke out of his reverie and fixed his attention to the slit of artificial light pouring out into the main ward, his heart beat racing as his imagination run wild.

Was it all over?

Was Remus okay?

Was he _alive_?

"Of course Poppy, I will not keep you any longer, I dare say our young Mr. Lupin requires all your attention." was all the three Marauder's heard before a mass of slightly frizzed white hair and elaborately decorated Scarlet robes floated out of the doorway.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Sirius all but yelled, succeeding in dragging the Headmaster's attention away from the presumably agitated Matron.

"Ah, Mr. Black I see you are awake." the headmaster stated stalking over towards the group in a flurry of cloth.

"How's Remus? Is he okay? What happened to him?" Sirius babbled, bombarding the Professor with questions before he had even reached his bedside.

"Calm, my dear boy. Young Mr. Lupin is fine." Dumbledore replied in his traditional soft and elegant vocals Sirius was growing used to. It seemed to be a voice the elderly man saved for those he visited in the Hospital Wing, and after many pranks gone awry, Sirius was finding himself becoming more and more acquainted with the area.

With a sense of mild curiosity, the Animagus watched as the head teacher calmly removed his wand from one of the many folds in his attire and wordlessly summoned himself a chair beside the bed, opposite to where James and Peter were gathered. Clearly he hadn't finished explaining.

"What is it?" Sirius snapped, cringing slightly at the amount of venom his words projected, he hadn't meant to sound so vicious, but sometimes he felt Dumbledore was going so slow he'd reached a complete standstill.

"All in time my dear boy. First I need to talk to you three about what happened in the Dungeons this afternoon."

That was all it took, as the Professor's words sunk in, the Three Marauder's burst into their explanation of things, each taking it in turn to offer their own aspect to the older man. Beginning at that morning's Guitar episode, before trudging needlessly through Breakfast, Sirius moaning throughout his morning's lessons about hating Potions, Lunch, the dreaded walk to the Dungeons, then eventually the actual lesson itself.

"I don't really know what happened, all I remember is Moony turned to put the last thing into our potion, and he seemed to go into a panic." James offered.

"Yeah, and me being in my stupid mood managed to put him off fixing it and made it worse and caused it to explode." Sirius spat spitefully.

Upon hearing this, Dumbledore turned his head to gaze fully at the bed ridden male, his face dropping from remote amusement at the story, to quiet regard as he surveyed the ebony haired Gryffindor.

"My dear boy this is not your fault." Dumbledore began, before holding his hand up to silence any remark Sirius was about to interrupt with. "But, I do believe this whole ordeal could have been avoided by Remus' full attention being on his Cauldron and not yourself."

"So, basically it is my fault." Sirius retorted, grimacing at the piercing look the headmaster gave him in response.

"No my dear boy, in fact Professor Slughorn has informed me, that after conducting a thorough examination of the scene, it appears someone had dropped a few Gillyweed seeds into young Mr. Lupin's potion and that is what caused the explosion."

"What?! Someone _intentionally_ tried to blow up _Remus_?!" Sirius gasped, he couldn't understand someone having a grudge against the werewolf, he was the only Marauder who regarded the Slytherin's equally to any other house student.

"Yes I am afraid so. Which brings me to another pointer. You asked earlier about Mr. Lupin's condition," Dumbledore began as Sirius held his breath, his body filling with dread at the thought of the Professor's next words, as he noticed the solemn look on the old man's face.

"What is it Professor?" Peter squeaked.

"I am afraid that Remus' memory has taken a knock and Madam Pomfrey is still unsure how permanent this factor is." the Headmaster explained. "But, there is one thing we _are_ sure is permanent. I am afraid our young Mr. Lupin is deaf."

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**A/N: How was that? Reviews are greatly appreciated. Also thanks once again to my darling Mads for the Beta. xxx  
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	3. Explanations

**A/N: Once again sorry for the relatively slow update. I'm sorry, I've got loads of work to do and I assure you that I've been trying to write all week. I'm hoping this part makes up. Thankyou once again for the reviews. They really do give me the motivation to continue writing. BIG thankyou to my Beta again. Hope you all enjoy this. All writing in {..} is mental speech, i.e. telepathy. Hope that doesn't confuse anyone. xxx  
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Every part of his body felt disjointed, like foreign, fake limbs, heavy and stiff hanging uselessly by his sides. Colour's whirled around behind his eyelids, a masterpiece of Gryffindor reds slammed into various shades of greens, purples, pinks, blues and yellows with ferocious speed, some speckles of colour containing snippets of memories, some vivid, others rooted with confusion.

_Being bitten at six._

_Meeting the other Marauder's._

_Sirius playing his guitar till the early hours._

_Something related to Animagi._

_A recent drama in potions._

_Pain filling his system.._

The memories gained in speed and number, raising a wave of nausea ten feet tall from his gut and allowing it to come crashing down over his unprotected form. He couldn't understand what was happening, he couldn't remember anything other then waking up to the beautiful sound of music.

Feeling a tug at his mind, Remus jolted as pain racked his frame, the visions fading away as the colour's lost their saturation and sunk into a dismal grey colour, his system waking from it's relaxed state, dragging his mind away from drifting in his subconscious.

In an instant his eyes flashed open, the world returning in a blaze of white light and strangely blurred objects, some of which caused his memory to stir. He was in his isolation room in the Hospital Wing that he took refuge in after the full moon so he could recover in peace. But based on how quiet his "dark side" was acting, he knew the full moon was still a few weeks away.

When his red haired, female friend had first called the werewolf part of him his "dark side" Remus had been able to laugh along with the teasing for once in his life. However the reference to a Muggle film had been lost on the other three group members and the amusement of the statement had soon worn off as he and Lily had to spend the next three hours explaining to Sirius, James and Peter about Lightsabers, Jedi, Sith and the Death Stars.

Sliding his eyelids closed, Remus forced his mind to stop from going into overdrive as he remembered various attributes from the conversation at the same time, the voices clashing horribly in his brain, the only part standing out fully, being Sirius' determination to rename Professor Flitwick, Yoda.

Tensing slightly, Remus' eyes flickered open and fixed on the doorway, positive there was someone on the other side and determined to find out who was behind the wood panelling, his animal instincts kicking in as he tried to determine whether his visitor was friend or foe.

When the door clicked open, the young male felt himself relax as the familiar yet flamboyant Headmaster's figure appeared around the frame, his half moon spectacles glittering in the pale sun light as a relieved smile clung to his jawline.

However as the elderly professor advanced towards his bedside, Remus frowned as he realised he couldn't hear the swish of robes, or clack of shoes that his normally acute wolf hearing always managed to pick up. In fact, as he focused his attention further around the room, he realised; none of the usual sounds his sharp ears picked up were audible. No chirping of birds outside the window, no hum of school activity throughout the many floors of Hogwarts. Nothing. Nothing but a minute buzzing that seemed to originate in his brain instead of the surrounding atmosphere.

{I see you have noticed your inability to hear my dear boy} Dumbledore stated in his soothing vocals, causing Remus' frown to darken further as he noticed the Professor's lips had remained firmly shut.

"W-what's going o-on" Remus stammered, before resisting the urge to scream and smash his head on something solid as he failed to hear his own set of vocals as they spoke to the headmaster, only knowing he had said anything at all by the vibrations in his chest. Metaphoric alarm bells were going berserk in the young male's head, something was seriously wrong with him, and due to the dark shadows streaking through the, traditionally bright, eyes of the Headmaster, he had a feeling it was irreversible as well.

{Please, my dear boy, I know it may be difficult for you, but I need you to calm down, I wish to explain what has happened to you, and if you remain in this state, Madam Pomfrey will likely kick me out before I have finished} The headmaster whispered, making himself comfortable on the edge of the plain bedspread as the young werewolf nodded in understanding.

"Why ca-can't I hear?" Remus questioned, praying to Merlin that he wasn't shouting at the poor man in front of him. He didn't like the idea of talking yet only feeling his words. It was very confounding and was making his head spin.

{Do you remember much about the days events Remus?} Dumbledore began, before continuing as the blond shook his head negatively. {There was an explosion in Potions, your cauldron blew up and you and Mr. Black were in the main firing line.}

Remus froze. Sirius had been injured as well, the only part of potions he remembered was the extreme panic writing across Sirius' features as he reached out towards him, before everything shook and went fuzzy, he couldn't bare the thought of Sirius being unable to hear as well.

{He is fine my dear boy} was all Dumbledore said, successfully interpreting the young blond's panic. {He has a cut on his temple, but nothing that won't heal in a day or two. You however, Madam Pomfrey has informed me that a large chunk of the cauldron hit the back of your head, this had a huge impact on the back part of your brain which deals with recognition, learning and most things you associate with having to remember.}

Nodding in understanding, Remus realised that was probably the cause for all the confusion in his head, nothing was adding up or making sense and people he assumed he would normally be able to recognise easily were nothing but strangers.

{However, the blow to your head was not what caused your lack of hearing. But firstly I feel I must inform you that your lack of hearing is, regrettably, permanent.}

With that one sentence, Remus' blood ran cold. He was deaf, permanently. Up until that moment he had assumed the bash to his head had caused it and, like his memory, it would soon get better. Now he was facing the future not being able to hear anything. Not his own voice, nor his friends, before his heart sunk as he realised he'd never hear Sirius playing guitar again.

{I'm sorry to break this too you in this way Remus, but I feel I will need to inform you before everyone else otherwise there will be too many unanswered questions and it will only hinder your recovery.}

"O-okay." Remus breathed fighting back tears, he refused to cry over something that couldn't be undone, Dumbledore wouldn't blame him for crying, but he knew if the headmaster spotted his tears his explanation would stop and Remus wanted the full details before that happened.

{The potion itself caused your deafness. It was thrown over you as the cauldron exploded and it got into your ears and burnt through your eardrum, before damaging your cochlea and audio nerves that carry the signals to your brain.} Remus quickly nodded, hanging onto every word as Dumbledore continued. {Don't worry about your studies, as I'm sure your well aware, Muggles have that delightful sign language of theirs that you can learn, and I'm sure Sirius, as well as James and Peter will be willing to learn with you. In classes, if you know how, you can attempt to lip read, or have one of your friends take notes for you.}

"How are y-you talking to m-me?" Remus quizzed, he had been wanting to ask the professor this ever since he had first began talking, but only felt that now was an appropriate time.

{Ah, well my dear boy. Most wizards aren't aware of sign language, so for those who have no one to take notes, or are unable to lip read, they learn telepathy and can therefore communicate with people almost as naturally as they used to. However you can only have a decent conversation if both participants know telepathy. Once you are recovered as best as possible, you will be able to learn how to speak telepathically if you so wish}

Remus marvelled at the answer, he would be able to learn telepathy, he had read about it in one of his many trips to the library and had been utterly fascinated by it. But the idea of having to learn sign language and even have one of his friends take notes was enough to make him queasy. His independent learning had officially flown out the window and splattered on the ground.

Lost in his musings, Remus failed to realise the door had opened once more and that Madam Pomfrey was now berating the headmaster for keeping the young wolf awake for so long.

{I am afraid I must leave now my dear boy, matron's orders. But I have took the liberty to bring you some books you may find of interest.} Dumbledore explained, successfully cutting through Remus' inner debate before pointing across to the bedside table, where sure enough, a small pile of books lay.

Nodding his thanks, Remus watched as the professor left, whilst Madam Pomfrey bustled around him performing various checks over his system before deeming him stable and leaving him to his thoughts.

Sinking back to the pillows, Remus rolled carefully onto his side and peered up at the volumes. Sign language, lip reading, telepathy mastering, getting around everyday tasks. Feeling that familiar sense of loss creeping through his insides, Remus gave in to his tears and curled up in a ball, his independence slipping from his grasp with every sob, his arms tightening as he thought of everything he'd have to stop or relearn how to do, how he'd never hear anything again and most importantly, how he'd never get to hear Sirius again and with that thought in mind, Remus curled tighter into himself and cried himself to sleep.

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It was early the next morning, the sun was starting to creep into the small isolation room. Remus lay with his eyes closed but very much awake. He couldn't sleep, every time he allowed himself to fall into his subconscious, flashes of the day previous reared up and tried to bite him. The school must know about his condition by now and he was dreading leaving the Hospital Wing to face the looks of pity from the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaws, the curiosity of the Hufflepuffs and the jeers off most of the Slytherin's. The mere thought of it all was enough to make the young blond want to curl up and die.

However he was once again thrown out of his thoughts as the scent around the room changed, his heightened sense of smell picking up a new addition to the area. A familiar human, their body covered in the strong scent of worry, with a small dashing of dried blood. Remus recognised the scent, but his mind was still too fragile to try and work out who it was, so he settled for opening his eyes.

"S-Siri?" Remus gasped upon seeing a pair of pale Silver orbs gazing down at him from beneath a mixture of black locks and white gauze.

"Hi Remi." Sirius whispered back, slowly moving further forward, making sure he remained looking at Remus. Dumbledore had spoken to him, James and Peter after he had explained to Remus about his injuries and had also informed them of how they could help him. Sirius of course had jumped at the chance to learn a new language and even pay attention in class, especially if it was in aid of Remus.

Remus watched as his older friend gently perched himself on the edge of the duvet, sat next to his stomach so he was within arms length of the young wolf and smiled gently down at him. He had a feeling that the Headmaster had spoken to the Animagi after he had left his room.

"How are you?" Sirius breathed making sure he was looking directly at the young blond so he would be able to lip read. He was finding it hard to remain still enough so Remus would be able to see, but he knew it would be worth it if he could help the smaller male.

Not daring to test his voice again, Remus merely smiled weakly at the ebony haired male and nodded in hope the Marauder would understand. Before he could register what was happening, he suddenly found himself being crushed against Sirius' chest, a pair of muscular arms wrapped around his back, and that was all it took.

As the first tears fell, Sirius tightening his arms, trying to portrait to his young blond just how much he wanted to help him. He hated seeing Remus crying, he still had trouble with it after the transformations, but this, this was new, Remus felt so lost and frail in his arms and his sobs were disjointed and shaky, each one carving into Sirius' heart.

"I...I...I." Remus breathed, his small fingertips digging into the Animagi's shoulders, trying to explain to Sirius the constant battle that was already raging around his head.

Frowning, Sirius looked at the pile of books on the desk, he had understood what Remus had been trying to say, but was finding it increasingly difficult to think of how to keep the conversation flowing and preventing the other male from feeling even more awkward. On a second glance however, Sirius spotted a small notebook behind the collection of tomes, out of Remus' view and moving back from the younger male slightly, picked it up gratefully, along with the quill sat beside it.

"W-what's that?" Remus asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"A notebook." Sirius responded as he looked at Remus. "To write in, I'm guessing it was in case you couldn't talk to someone." he added hoping he hadn't spoken too fast for his young friend.

"Oh." was all Remus responded as another knife stabbed in his heart as his independence once again fell apart, his fingers pushing heavily at the tears still trying to escape down his face.

Sensing the inner battle in the young blond, Sirius replaced the notebook on the table and picked up the pile of resources Dumbledore had left, before tottering round to the other side of the bed and hoisting himself up next to the younger male, wriggling around to get comfy as Remus turned round to face him.

Holding up the sign language book, Sirius proceeded to pull it open as Remus nodded, before shuffling across closer and placing his arm above Remus' head so the pair of them could read the information given, The young werewolf spending more time watching the changing expressions on his friends face as he read about Sign language, then actually reading himself.

Ten minutes later, Remus nearly jumped as Sirius groaned in pain, the vibrations spreading not only through the dark haired male's body, but Remus' as well.

"Ouch, my arms going dead." Sirius moaned removing his arm from around his friend, before once again getting himself comfortable and pulling Remus down against him. Placing the blond head on his chest, Sirius proceeded to lift his knees and rest the book against his thighs, making sure the pair of them could still see the pages.

"That's better, now lets see 'Chapter 1, The basics and alphabet.'" Sirius stated, more for himself then Remus, he wanted to learn as quickly as possible so he could communicate as easily as he used to with the small blond and he was willing to stay there all day if it helped, regardless of the fact Madam Pomfrey would go insane when she realised he wasn't in his bed. Especially since he hadn't thought to tell her that he was going to visit Remus, even after she had informed him the werewolf wasn't ready for visitors.

Looking down towards the book, the werewolf subconsciously placed his arm across the other males chest, marvelling at how he could feel the strong heartbeat through his body, before chuckling slightly to himself as Sirius proceeded to raise his hands and attempt to copy some of the signs being shown to him from the pages. Somehow with Sirius having a go made his situation not seem so much of a nightmare any more.

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**A/N: Hope this was okay. Reviews are REALLY appreciated. xxx  
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